 State Route 14 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SR 14 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCaltrans | ||||
| Length | 116.645 mi[1] (187.722 km) | |||
| Existed | 1964 renumbering (fromUS 6)–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-5 inLos Angeles | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |  US 395 nearInyokern | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Los Angeles,Kern | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Route 14 (SR 14) is a north–southstate highway in the U.S. state ofCalifornia that connects Los Angeles to the northernMojave Desert. The southern portion of the highway is signed as theAntelope Valley Freeway. Its southern terminus is atInterstate 5 (I-5,Golden State Freeway) in the Los Angeles neighborhoods ofGranada Hills andSylmar[2] just immediately to the south of the border of the city ofSanta Clarita. SR 14's northern terminus is atU.S. Route 395 (US 395) nearInyokern. Legislatively, the route extends south of I-5 toSR 1 in thePacific Palisades area of Los Angeles; however, the portion south of the junction with I-5 has not been constructed. The southern part of the constructed route is a busy commuter freeway serving and connecting the cities of Santa Clarita,Palmdale, andLancaster to the rest of theGreater Los Angeles area. The northern portion, from Vincent (south of Palmdale) to US 395, is legislatively named the Aerospace Highway, as the highway servesEdwards Air Force Base, once one of the primary landing strips forNASA'sSpace Shuttle, as well as theNaval Air Weapons Station China Lake that supports military aerospace research, development and testing. This section is rural, following the line between the hot Mojave desert and the formingSierra Nevada mountain range. Most of SR 14 is loosely paralleled by a rail line originally built by theSouthern Pacific Railroad, and was once the primary rail link between Los Angeles andNorthern California. While no longer a primary rail line, the southern half of this line is now used for theAntelope Valley Line of theMetrolink commuter rail system.
Linked with US 395, this road also connects Los Angeles with such places asMammoth Mountain,Mono Lake,Yosemite National Park andReno, Nevada. SR 14 was part ofUS 6 prior to truncation in 1964, when US 6 was a coast-to-coast route fromLong Beach toProvincetown, Massachusetts. The non-freeway segment of SR 14 from Silver Queen Road north ofRosamond toMojave is known asSierra Highway, as is the old routing between I-5 and Silver Queen Road where SR 14 has been moved to a newerfreeway alignment. Portions of SR 14 remain signed with names associated with US 6, includingMidland Trail,Theodore Roosevelt Highway, andGrand Army of the Republic Highway.
SR 14 is part of theCalifornia Freeway and Expressway System,[3] and is part of theNational Highway System,[4] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by theFederal Highway Administration.[5]
The southern portion of the freeway, from I-5 to the Avenue D exit nearLancaster, has been designated the Antelope Valley Freeway by the state legislature.[6] The Antelope Valley Freeway begins in theSanta Susana Mountains at theNewhall Pass interchange by splitting from theGolden State Freeway (I-5). This is the busiest portion of the route with anannual average daily traffic (AADT) count of 169,000 vehicles per day.[7] The freeway forms much of the eastern boundary ofSanta Clarita along its route. Past Santa Clarita, the road continues northeast and crosses theSierra Pelona Mountains and westernSan Gabriel Mountains via the canyon of the seasonalSanta Clara River. The ascent is mostly rugged and rural terrain, with only two small towns along the ascent, firstAgua Dulce and laterActon. In Agua Dulce, the freeway forms the southern boundary ofVasquez Rocks Park, a county park. The highway crests the Sierra Pelona Mountains viaEscondido Summit, at an elevation of 3,258 feet (993 m), before descending and passing byActon to the north. The highway then crests the San Gabriel Mountains viaSoledad Pass, at an elevation of 3,209 feet (978 m).[8] The route of the highway through the mountains loosely parallels that of theMetrolinkAntelope Valley Line.[9][10]
After cresting both mountain passes, the highway descends into theAntelope Valley, a large valley within theMojave Desert. The highway crossesAngeles Forest Highway and theCalifornia Aqueduct in the descent. SR 14 serves as the primary north–south thoroughfare for the communities ofPalmdale and Lancaster. Between Palmdale Boulevard (County Route N2) and Avenue D in Lancaster, SR 14runs concurrently withSR 138.[10]
From the Pearblossom Highway exit south of Palmdale to its northern terminus at US 395 nearInyokern, SR 14 has been designated the Aerospace Highway.[6] Between Pearblossom Highway and Avenue S, there is a vista point overlookingLake Palmdale, which features a historic plaque that honors aviation accomplishments including theSpace Shuttle, breaking the sound barrier and the speed record.[6] The freeway passes theLos Angeles–Kern county line at Avenue A, and continues to run north throughRosamond andMojave. In Rosamond, the highway passes close toEdwards Air Force Base, which was often used as one of the main landing strips forNASA's Space Shuttle, and as the base for theX-15 and many other air and spacecraft.[11]
The freeway portion terminates just south of Mojave, where SR 14 serves as the main street and runs through the downtown area. To the east of the route isMojave Air & Space Port, home to theNational Test Pilot School andSpaceShipOne, the first privately funded human spaceflight,[12] as well as a vastairplane graveyard; all are visible from SR 14.[10]
SR 58 was formerly routed concurrently with SR 14 through Mojave, before it was rerouted onto a bypass running north and east of the town.[10]
The character of the highway changes as it leavesCalifornia City with the lastinterchange located at California City Boulevard. Now adivided highway withat-grade intersections, departs the corridor of the rail main, to follow the crest of the formingSierra Nevada mountains. The route continues to follow a branch line of the Union Pacific Railroad used as a connector for theTrona Railway. The main line of the railroad proceeds towards theCentral Valley viaTehachapi Pass. Though SR 14 heads away from the pass, the highway has views of the mountains and theTehachapi Pass Wind Farm. The scenery also changes, as the highway departs the Mojave Desert and crossesRed Rock Canyon State Park. Traffic counts drop dramatically as the highway becomes more rural, with an AADT of 3,200 vehicles at the northern terminus.[7] SR 14 continues north toward US 395 inInyokern, much of its routing as anexpressway. Towards its northern terminus, SR 14 runs briefly concurrently withSR 178. At its northern terminus, SR 14 merges with US 395 as it turns into an expressway heading north toBishop. As US 395 the route continues to follow the crest of the Sierra Nevada, servingOwens Valley,Mammoth Mountain,Yosemite National Park andMono Lake.[10]
The first road to use the general alignment of modern SR 14 was called the El Camino Sierra, or Sierra Highway, which extended from Los Angeles toLake Tahoe. A dirt road was completed in the 1910s from what had been apack trail. TheLos Angeles Times declared El Camino Sierra complete in 1931, when the portion from Mojave to theOwens Valley, along modern US 395, was paved.[13]
During the late 19th century, the corridor of modern SR 14 was also in use by theSouthern Pacific Railroad. South ofMojave was used for a main line, the corridor north of Mojave follows a branch line. The main line connected Los Angeles with the Central Valley, viaSoledad Pass andTehachapi Pass. While significantly longer than the more directRidge Route (east of modernI-5), Tehachapi Pass is lower thanTejon Pass along the Ridge Route, with a longer, less steepgrade on the descent into the Central Valley.[10] While the Tehachapi Pass portion of this line has remained the same, over time another route was built from Mojave, across the Antelope Valley towardsCajon Pass to cross the San Gabriel Mountains, there merging with another main rail trunk to Los Angeles. The Cajon Pass fork remains the primary freight rail line to connect southern and northern California in use today, now owned and operated by theUnion Pacific Railroad.[14] The fork paralleling SR 14 and crossing at Soledad Pass is still a contiguous line, but not used for through freight traffic as a significant portion was sold to the predecessors of theSouthern California Regional Rail Authority to become theAntelope Valley Line of theMetrolink commuter rail service. The branch north of Mojave was built when the Southern Pacific acquired the unfinishedCarson and Colorado Railroad in 1900.[15] The Southern Pacific built astandard gauge connector to thenarrow gauge Carson and Colorado line from their main at Mojave. Although plans were to eventually convert this acquired line to standard gauge, most of the line was abandoned before the conversion was complete. The southern portion of this line is still active and connects to theTrona Railway.[10][16]
TheMidland Trail was one of the first organized coast-to-coast trails in the United States.[17] In the trail's infancy, its routing changed numerous times. By 1925, the Midland Trail was established along what is modernState Route 168, joining El Camino Sierra inBig Pine.[18] Other named trails that eventually followed this route included theTheodore Roosevelt highway,[18] andGrand Army of the Republic Highway.[19] Parts of modern SR 14 continue to be signed with these names,[6] and north of Los Angeles County is still officially designated "El Camino Sierra / Midland Trail" as well as the aforementioned "Aerospace Highway".[6]
US 6 was extended fromGreeley, Colorado, toLong Beach, California, on June 21, 1937.[19] Most of this extension used the Midland Trail, although the route entered California from Nevada slightly north of the previous route of the Midland Trail, instead passing throughBishop. While being designated US 6, parts of modern SR 14 were upgraded tofreeway standards.
As part of the1964 state highway renumbering, US 6 was truncated at Bishop. The portion of US 6 fromInyokern to Los Angeles was designated SR 14. Previously,the SR 14 designation was used for Artesia Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, in the Los Angeles area, a portion of modernSR 91.[20]
Between 1963 and 1975, significant portions of US 6/SR 14 were moved to a freeway alignment. The former routing south of Mojave (and the current routing to the north) is still known as Sierra Highway. The first freeway section, from just east of Solemint Junction to Red Rover Mine Road, was completed in 1963. Further portions in the intercanyon areas of Acton to Soledad Pass were completed by 1965. By 1966, the freeway was complete as far north as Avenue P-8 (now Technology Drive) in Palmdale. The freeway was completed to Mojave by 1972.[21]
TheNewhall Pass interchange, where I-5, Sierra Highway,Foothill Boulevard,San Fernando Road and the southern terminus of SR 14 meet, has been the site of a number of catastrophic incidents. The interchange has partially collapsed twice due to earthquakes: the 1971Sylmar earthquake and the1994 Northridge earthquake. As a result of the 1994 collapse, this interchange was renamed the "Clarence Wayne Dean Memorial Interchange", honoring aLos Angeles Police Department motorcycle officer killed when he was unable to stop in time and drove off the collapsedflyover ramp from SR 14 south to I-5 south.[22] After both earthquakes, the collapsed portions were rebuilt and surviving portions reinforced.[23]
In 2007, twotractor-trailer trucks collided in atunnel along the truck lanes for southbound I-5 at the interchange. A resulting fire started, soon encompassing the entire tunnel along with 30 other trucks and one passenger vehicle that were in the tunnel at the time. The truck tunnel was closed for several days for structural damage inspections and repairs.[24]
SR 14 is an unfinished route, as the definition in the CaliforniaStreets and Highways Code states that the route begins atSR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway), nearSunset Boulevard in thePacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.[25] Between the constructed end and legislative end of SR 14 are the community ofReseda andTopanga State Park. There is no paved road that directly connects these two points, withSR 27 orI-405 being the nearest through roads in this area.[26]
The interchange with Sierra Highway at Via Princessa in Santa Clarita has an unusual design, with long flyover ramps for the connections. This is the result of afreeway revolt by the residents of Santa Clarita that canceled plans for a freeway extension ofSR 126.[27] While the Via Princessa alignment of SR 126 was canceled, the city of Santa Clarita constructed the Cross Valley Connector[28] (CVC) to connect SR 126 directly to SR 14 via Newhall Ranch Road and Golden Valley Road. The final CVC section, the bridge over the Santa Clara River, was opened on March 27, 2010.[29]
Rapidexurban growth in Santa Clarita, Lancaster, and Palmdale has made the Antelope Valley Freeway one of the most congested in southern California, with averagerush hour speeds well below 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). Future predictions call for continued growth along the SR 14 corridor, including predictions of a tripling of the population of Palmdale by 2030. In response, multiple government agencies have proposed adding more transportation arteries between Los Angeles and the Antelope Valley, as well as expanding the capacity of the existing SR 14 and rail corridors.[30]
Several proposals have been made to bypass the Antelope Valley Freeway by boring a tunnel under the San Gabriel Mountains and extending theGlendale Freeway through it to the Antelope Valley. In 2003,Caltrans published a map showing potential improvements to the transportation infrastructure of southern California. The proposal showed both the unconstructed portion of SR 14 and new routes over or under the mountains to Antelope Valley.[31] In 2005, the idea was advanced as a combination toll tunnel and surface highway. Preliminary studies estimated costs around $3 billion and suggested charging a varying toll, adjusted for the time of day, averaging around $8 for one-way passage.[32]
Except where prefixed with a letter,postmiles were measured on the road as it was in1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, seeCalifornia postmile § Official postmile definitions).[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile [1][33][34] | Exit [35] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles LA R24.79-R77.01 | Los Angeles | R24.79 | 1A |  I-5 south (Golden State Freeway) –Los Angeles | Newhall Pass interchange atNewhall Pass; southern end of SR 14 / Antelope Valley Freeway; I-5 exit 162 |
| 1B |  I-5 north (Golden State Freeway) –Sacramento | ||||
| ♦ | I-5 south | HOV access only; southbound exit and northbound entrance | |||
| Santa Clarita | | 1C |  I-5 Truck south / The Old Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; truck lanes to I-5 south; The Old Road was formerUS 99 | |
| R27.05 | 2 | Newhall Avenue | FormerSR 126 west and was San Fernando Road | ||
| R28.08 | 3 | Placerita Canyon Road | |||
| R29.68 | 5 | Golden Valley Road | Connects toSR 126 | ||
| R30.80 | 6A | Sierra Highway (SR 14U) –Canyon Country | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; formerUS 6 | ||
| R30.92 | 6B | Via Princessa | Signed as exit 6 southbound | ||
| 33.42 | 9 | Sand Canyon Road | ServesAngeles National Forest &San Gabriel Mountains National Monument | ||
| 35.71 | 11 | Soledad Canyon Road | Formerly signed as Shadow Pines Boulevard | ||
| Agua Dulce | 39.85 | 15 | Agua Dulce Canyon Road | ||
| 43.29 | 19 | Escondido Canyon Road | |||
| Acton | 46.76 | 22 | Red Rover Mine Road,Sierra Highway | Sierra Highway was formerUS 6 | |
| R48.61 | 24 | Crown Valley Road –Acton | |||
| R50.75 | 26 | Santiago Road | |||
| R52.17 | 27 | Soledad Canyon Road | |||
| Soledad Pass | R54.54 | 30 | Angeles Forest Highway (CR N3),Pearblossom Highway | ||
| Palmdale | R58.17 | 33 | Avenue S | ||
| R59.80 | 35 |   SR 138 east /CR N2 west (Palmdale Boulevard) –Palmdale | Southern end of SR 138 concurrency; northern end of SR 14 HOV lanes | ||
| R61.37 | 37 | Rancho Vista Boulevard | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; formerly signed as Avenue P; servesLA/Palmdale Regional Airport | ||
| R61.77 | 10th Street West | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; servesLA/Palmdale Regional Airport | |||
| R63.67 | 39 | Avenue N | Also known asR. Lee Ermey Avenue[36] | ||
| Palmdale–Lancaster line | R64.68 | 40 | Avenue M | Also known asColumbia Way[37] | |
| Lancaster | R65.68 | 41 | Avenue L | ||
| R66.73 | 42 | Avenue K | |||
| R67.39 | 43 | 20th Street West | Northbound exit only | ||
| R67.96 | Avenue J (CR N5) | No northbound exit | |||
| R68.97 | 44 | Avenue I | |||
| R69.99 | 45 | Avenue H | |||
| R70.99 | 46 | Avenue G | |||
| | R72.00 | 47 | Avenue F | ||
| | R74.00 | 49 |  SR 138 west (Avenue D) –Gorman | Northern end of SR 138 concurrency | |
| Los Angeles–Kern county line | | R77.01 R0.17 | 52 | Avenue A | |
| Kern KER R0.00-64.56 | Rosamond | R3.02 | 55 | Rosamond Boulevard –Rosamond,Edwards AFB | |
| R6.12 | 58 | Dawn Road | |||
| Mojave | R9.15 | 61 | Backus Road | ||
| R12.15 | 64 | Silver Queen Road | Connects toSierra Highway | ||
| | Northern end of Antelope Valley Freeway | ||||
| 16.06 |    SR 58 Bus. east toSR 58 east –Barstow | Southern end of SR 58 Bus. concurrency; formerUS 466 east /SR 58 east | |||
| L17.38 16.07 | SR 58 Bus. west toSR 58 west –Bakersfield | Northern end of SR 58 Bus. concurrency; formerUS 466 west /SR 58 west | |||
| | 19.24 | SR 58 –Bakersfield,Barstow | Interchange; SR 58 exit 167 | ||
| California City | 21.29 | 73 | California City Boulevard | Interchange | |
| Freeman Junction | 57.77 |  SR 178 west –Weldon,Lake Isabella | Southern end of SR 178 concurrency | ||
| Inyokern | 60.57 |   SR 178 east toUS 395 south –Inyokern,Ridgecrest | Northern end of SR 178 concurrency | ||
| 64.56 |  US 395 north –Bishop,Reno | Interchange; northern end of SR 14; no access to US 395 south; formerUS 6 north | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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